No shame in losing at Heinz Field

NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth wasn’t surprised the Cowboys fell apart Sunday at Heinz Field – and that’s not a shot at all at the Cowboys.

“I’ve been in that stadium. I don’t know how to explain it, but when they are start waving those stinking towels, and the momentum starts to shift Pittsburgh’s way, I think it is as hard a place as there is to try and get your act back together,” Collinsworth said today in a conference call to promote NBC’s coverage of Sunday night’s Cowboys-Giants game.

Collinsworth said momentum started shifting the Steelers way after Santonio Holmes returned a punt deep into Dallas territory to set up Jeff Reed’s 41-yard field goal, the first of the 17 points Pittsburgh would score in the final 7:15 to pull off the improbable 20-13 win.

“Even watching the game on television you could see the Cowboys go from such a level of excitement when they made the goal line stand to just that uh oh feeling that can happen in Pittsburgh in a way that can happen almost unlike any other stadium,” Collinsworth said.